Welcome to the Squadra di Vecchi Tori Blog

We are a group of ordinary bike riders who live in or around the suburb of Malvern, Melbourne, Australia and ride under the name ‘Squadra di Vecchi Tori’ (Team of Old Bulls). Why the name? Because Molteni and Gewiss were already taken and a few of our riders are involved in the beef industry. The rest of us like being associated with signs of virility.

In March 2010, 16 of our crew each rode 527ks in 24 hours during the annual Murray to Moyne cycling event held in Victoria. We raised over $60,000 for 2 charities close to the hearts of 2 of our riders – Learning for Life and The Unicorn Foundation. Links below.

You can also find us at www.twitter.com/m2m500.

This blog will document some of our rides, contain tips, commentary, banter and a distraction for all.

Pages

Marcus recently posted the following note on Cyclingtipsblog.com (see link opposite) in response to a post by Wade on the merits of bike registration for riders. It contains a helpful summary at the end of different types of cover to think about having as rider.

“Hi,
Here are a few thoughts on insurance which I am happy to expand upon if you are interested (my background is that I am a lawyer and financial adviser as well as being an ordinary cyclist – I am naturally biased towards insurance so the following is somewhat self-serving).

A Cyclingtips Reader’s Guide to Insurance

1. Watch Michael Forbes’ video.

2. The FIRST rule of thumb when it comes to insurance is NOT TO RELY on any generalised policy provided when you register with a cycling body or any other organisation. Any payout from this source should be seen as a bonus.

Reason for this is that these policies necessarily cover the “lowest common denominator” and cannot be expected to meet your individual circumstances. One size fits all doesn’t work with bikes and it doesn’t work with insurance.

3. You need a policy that you can rely on paying out a benefit when catastrophe strikes. If something terrible happens, you do not want you or your loved ones to be HOPING for an insurance payout. So you need insurance tailored to your circumstances.

4. Insurance doesn’t just protect YOU: it also protects your dependants and your carers (read family). EVERY cyclist owes it to themselves and their loved ones to take out appropriate insurances – see below for a brief rundown.

Even if you are single with no dependants, you at least need income protection. Do you think it would be fair on your parents/other next of kin to need to step in and become your carer AND be expected to foot the bills?

5. TAC (or other state equivalent) payouts provide a very necessary service to traffic accident victims however there is no guarantee that cyclists injured on the road would be eligible for a payout. If you crash in a bunch of cyclists with no cars involved you may not be covered. If things were worse in last Saturday’s Hell Ride crash, there is no certainty TAC would have stepped in to foot the bill.

6. Go see an independent financial adviser (not one tied to a bank or insurance company) so they have access to all insurers. Obtain a recommendation and ask lots of questions. If you can, go see more than one adviser until you find one you LIKE AND TRUST.

7b. If you still think insurance is too expensive, write out the two amounts described in 7a and then (if you dare) show them to your loved ones and tell them you are not getting insurance and you are going to keep riding your bike.

8. Re-watch Michael Forbes’ video.

Personal insurance is the responsibility of all cyclists individually, not some state body. Take responsibility for yourself and get yourself appropriately covered.

Types of Insurances

Life: Paid on your death – you must have this if you have dependants.

Total & Permanent Disability – as the name suggests – doesn’t cost much more when combined with Life insurance.

Trauma – pays out if you suffer a specific illness/injury such as paralysis, cancer, stroke, heart attack, etc. More expensive but more likely to pay out.

Income Protection – designed to pay you an amount to cover income lost if you can’t work. A must have for everybody.